Teenage goalscorers and other Sky Blue records

What a great night at the CBS on Monday night! As Sky and the main stream media have been saying ever since it was City's first home win in the Premier League for 25 years, almost as if we've been playing there for 25 years and never won. Sky's ignorance of football and the game's stats before the start of the Premier League in 1992 is annoying to me and many older fans as well as being disrespectful to the game's history.

On that subject it was interesting to see that Stephen Mfuni, the scorer of a cracking fourth goal against Newcastle, is the youngest City player to score in the Premier League, edging Robbie Keane from that exalted position. However neither Mfuni, Keane or Sidiki Cherif, another teenage scorer on Monday, get into the all-time top ten of youngest City scorers. Mfuni was born in February 2008 making him 18 years and 242 days old and just 12 days younger than Tom Bayliss, the last 18-year-old to score, in 2017. The ten youngest scorers are:

1 Brian Hill v Gillingham 1957-58  16 years 273 days

2 Colin Holder v Shrewsbury 1960-61 17y 78d

3 Tom English v Bristol City 1979-80 17y 307d

4 James Maddison v Oldham (a) 2014-15 17y 332d

5 Willie Carr v Charlton 1967-68 18y 21d

6 Peter Hill v Preston 1949-50 18y 33d

7 Ellis Lager v Bournemouth 1935-36 18y 93d

8 Conor Thomas v Blackpool (a) 2011-12 18y 94d

9 Bobby Gould v Mansfield 1964-65 18y 124d

10 Steve Sedgley v Oldham 1986-87 18y 155d

Two substitutes, Mfuni and Ellis Simms, were on the score-sheet against Newcastle, only the seventh time that has happened since two substitutes were allowed in 1987. The last time was at Millwall last season when Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Simms netted after coming off the bench in the 4-0 win.

The 4-1 victory equalled the best ever home win over Newcastle, a 4-1 win in 1999-2000. Goals from Carlton Palmer, Paul Williams and Robbie Keane gave City a 3-0 half-time lead. Newcastle, down to ten men after Warren Barton's red card scored a consolation goal through Didier Domi but Hadji made it 4-1 in the final minute.

City have bettered that scoreline at St James's Park however. In 1938 in a Second Division game City ran riot, winning 4-0 with goals from George Taylor, Tommy Crawley (2) and Bobby Davidson in a season that saw City finish fourth and miss out on promotion by four points.

After Jay Dasilva scored the winning goal at Forest a month ago in his 127^th game for the club Simon Campbell asked me if this was the longest run before a player scored his first goal. I think that honour goes to Richard Shaw. Signed in 1995, Shaw finally scored his first, and only City goal, in May 2004 in a 5-2 win at Gillingham in his 297^th game for the club. Richard went on to make a further 64 appearances and never scored again. 

Then there is Brian 'Harry' Roberts who scored his first goal in December 1982 in a 3-0 away win at West Ham in what was his 195^th game for the club. Harry had made his debut at Tottenham in April 1975 and became a regular two years later. After going almost 200 games before scoring he managed to get a second goal the following month in a 2-2 FA Cup draw with Norwich at Highfield Road. He went on to make 249 appearances for the club but never scored again.

The player with the most games without scoring was Chris Cattlin who made 239 appearances between 1968-76 without finding the net. Chris joined Brighton in 1976 and eight games into his Seagulls' career scored a goal!

If you enjoy this column and would like to hear more about Coventry City's history you can listen to the Sky Blue History Podcast which is available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Claudio Cardellino and I talk about all things Sky Blue.

If you're after more information on City's history try www.skybluearchive.com . The site contains full details of over 4000 games the club has played since 1919 as well as player's profiles and pictures and much more. Follow on X @skybluesarchive

If you have a question about the history or statistics of Coventry City or have a suggested topic for the podcast please drop me an email at clarriebourton@gmail.com and follow me on X/Twitter @clarriebourton

Jim's Column 23.12.2017

Eighteen-year-old Tom Bayliss made a dramatic first league start for the Sky Blues last Saturday. Within two minutes of the kick-off he had netted his first goal for the club – the fastest goal by a City league starting debutant since 1956 when Ron Newman netted in the first minute of his debut against Southampton. Newman was a Welsh-born right-winger who joined City from Northampton Town in a straight swap for Charlie Dutton n March 1956 and went straight into the first team. His goal-time was not recorded in seconds but 'Nemo' in the Pink was clear it hit the net within the first minute. City beat the Saints 2-0 with Ken McPherson netting the second goal. Ron scored one other goal in six appearances before the end of the season, in a 4-1 home win over QPR. The following season he made only seven appearances and moved to Torquay United in July 1957 where he played just four games before moving into non-league circles with Bedford Town, Rugby Town and Rushden Town. He later coached Wellingborough Town and still lives in Northampton.

                                                             Ron Newman in 1955

Since then two players have scored faster debut goals as substitutes. Wayne Andrews scored 26 seconds after coming off the bench at Barnsley in 2006-07 and Laurent Delorge scored within a minute after coming on for his league debut at Sheffield United in 2001.

                                                   Wayne Andrews celebrates at Barnsley

Leicester-born Bayliss celebrated his 18th birthday on 6th April which made him 18 years and 254 days when he scored his first goal. However, that doesn't even put him in the top 10 youngest City goalscorers who are:-

1 Brian Hill v Gillingham 1957-58  16 years 273 days

2 Colin Holder v Shrewsbury 1960-61 17y 78d

3 Tom English v Bristol City 1979-80 17y 307d

4 James Maddison v Oldham (a) 2014-15 17y 332d

5 Willie Carr v Charlton 1967-68 18y 21d

6 Peter Hill v Preston 1949-50 18y 33d

7 Ellis Lager v Bournemouth 1935-36 18y 93d

8 Conor Thomas v Blackpool (a) 2011-12 18y 94d

9 Bobby Gould v Mansfield 1964-65 18y 124d

10 Steve Sedgley v Oldham 1986-87 18y 155d

Bayliss was born in April 1999 and the day is fast approaching when the club will field their first player born in the 21st century. Only Jordan Thompson, born two days after Bayliss, who made his bow in the Checkatrade Trophy game with West Brom as a substitute, was born after Tom.

Geoff Moore, who tracks stats on the players who have appeared at the Ricoh tells me that an opposition player born in the 21st century has already appeared – Walsall's Mitchell Candlin was born on 8th June 2000 and was only 16 when he played against the Sky Blues last April.

Geoff also tracks the nationalities to appear at the Ricoh and has advised me that two recent players were 'firsts'. One of Boreham Wood's substitutes in the recent FA Cup tie was Angelo Balanta, the first Colombian to appear at the stadium. Then, last Saturday, Cheltenham's impressive striker and goalscorer was Sudanese Mohamed Eisa. This takes the total of different nationalities to play at the Ricoh to 85.

We are also getting close to the 1000th player used by the club since they joined the Football League in 1919. That milestone will probably be reached next summer.

Jim's column 1.11.14

With the Sky Blues losing 0-2 to Peterborough at half-time last Saturday few City fans would have been prepared to back a City victory, but even less would have bet on that outcome if they had realised that the team had failed to comeback from two down in 19 years!

But first senior goals from Ryan Haynes & Jim O'Brien & a swash-buckling third from Frank Nouble secured a famous 3-2 victory over Posh. I was aware that City had not achieved a comeback from two down since a League Cup victory over Tottenham at Highfield Road in 1995 when trailing at half-time through goals by Chris Armstrong & a Dave Busst own goal, Ron Atkinson threw Dion Dublin on & watched as goals from Peter Ndlovu (a penalty), Dave Busst & John Salako secured a third round victory. What I hadn't realised until I did my research was that two goal turnarounds are few & far between for the Sky Blues. In fact Saturday's was only the ninth such comeback since World War 2. The last five before last week were:

1995-96 Tottenham (League Cup) (h) 3-2

1985-86 Southampton (h) 3-2

1980-81 West Ham (League Cup) (h) 3-2

1970-71 Derby (a) 4-3

1963-64 Peterborough (h) 3-2

It wasn't the first time that Posh were on the wrong end of a three-goal comeback - the only comeback in the Jimmy Hill era was in a dramatic victory over Posh in the autumn of 1963. Peterborough's record at Coventry is extremely poor. Since they arrived in the Football League in 1959 they have played nine away games against City but having won on their first visit in 1961 they have lost seven & drawn one of the subsequent games.

When the dearth of similar comebacks was revealed many readers wondered how often we have been on the receiving end of a comeback from two down. Since World War 2 there have been 14 instances, four of them in the last 14 years. The last five will bring bad memories to some City supporters:

2008-09 Watford (h) 2-3

2002-03 Ipswich (h) 2-4

2000-01 Aston Villa (a) 2-3

1999-00 Charlton (FA Cup) (h) 2-3

1987-88 Southampton (h) 2-3

Four of the five were at home with the Villa Park defeat the result that condemned the Sky Blues to relegation from the Premier League & the Charlton Cup defeat (a last minute Jonathan Hunt goal sending City out of the Cup) was for me the start of the club's slow & sad decline to where they are today.

James Maddison didn't get on to the pitch last week but did celebrate a milestone by scoring his first City goal at Oldham's Boundary Park four days earlier. James, who is not 18 until later this month, scored with the help of a deflection off a defender but became the fourth youngest goalscorer in the club's history. The ten youngest are now:

1. Brian Hill v Gillingham (a) 1957-58 16 years 273 day

2. Colin Holder v Shrewsbury (a) 1960-61 17y 78d

3.Tom English v Bristol City (h) 1979-80 17y 307d

4. James Maddison v Oldham (a) 2014-15 17y 332d

5. Willie Carr v Charlton (FAC) (h) 1967-68 18y 21d

6. Peter Hill v Preston 1949-50 (a) 18y 33d

7.Ellis Lager v Bournemouth (h) 1935-36 18y 93d

8. Conor Thomas v Blackpool (a) 2011-12 18y 94d

9. Bobby Gould v Mansfield (LC) (h) 1964-65 18y 124d

10. Steve Sedgley v Oldham (LC) (h) 1986-87 18y 155d

                                                     Brian Hill

Keith Ballantyne asked me how many appearances Spanish International Vicente Engonga made for the Sky Blues during his brief spell at the club in 2002-03. Engonga, a defensive midfield player who played over 350 La Liga appearances for Celta Vigo, Valencia & Mallorca & won 14 Spanish caps, joined City on a short-term contract in February 2003. City were struggling badly at the time (they went 21 league games with only one win during that spring) and in his eight appearances (including three as a substitute) he made little impact on the club's woeful form.

He played in the following games:

Rotherham (a) lost 0-1

Bradford City (h) lost 0-2

Grimsby (a) sub won 2-0

Preston (a) sub drew 2-2

Derby (a) sub lost 0-1

Stoke (h) lost 0-1

Gillingham (h) drew 0-0

Millwall (a) lost 0-2

Jim's column 11.2.12

                                        Coventry City v West Ham, 9.2.1952

This week marked the 60^th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne on the death of her father, King George VI. The king died on 6 February 1952 and three days later before the start of City’s home Second Division game against West Ham United there was a minute’s silence for the late king (see picture). On a very cold day City lost 1-2 and remained at the foot of the table. It was a season not dissimilar to this one with City in the relegation zone for most of the season and eventually relegated on the last day of the season.

Conor Thomas has had an amazing year by any standards. Just over a year ago, weeks after making his first team debut as a 17-year old, he was recognised as an outstanding talent by Liverpool and had an exciting spell at Anfield training with some of the Premier League's top players. This season he has been involved with the first team from the off and has been a virtual automatic choice in midfield all season.

At Blackpool last week he scored his first senior goal and although he was injured and missed last week's game against Ipswich there was reason for celebration in the Thomas household. Conor, aged 18 years and 94 days, became the fifth youngest Coventry City scorer of all time. Some outstanding Coventry City players failed to net their first goal before Conor including Garry Thompson, Peter Ndlovu and Bobby Gould, all of whom were in the first team at a tender age. The four younger scorers were as follows:

1.   Brian Hill.   v Gillingham. 1958. Aged 16 years 273 days

2.   Colin Holder v Shrewsbury 1961.  Aged 17 years 78 days

3.   Tommy English v Bristol City 1979. Aged 17 years 308 days

4.   Willie Carr v  Charlton 1968. Aged 18 years 21 days

Brian Hill scored his first goal on his debut and is still the youngest ever player to start a City game. He went on to have a long and successful career at the club, playing in five divisions of the Football League (Divisions 1,2,3,4 and Division 3 south) and played his final game for the Sky Blues in December 1970, 12 years after his debut.

Colin Holder had a very brief career for the club, making just nine appearances and scoring four goals. He was released soon after Jimmy Hill arrived at the club and moved into non-league circles. 

Tommy English burst on to the first team scene in 1979, as a replacement for the injured Ian Wallace and scored on his home debut. He scored 22 goals in 76 appearances before joining Leicester City in 1982. 

Willie Carr needs little introduction as he is a true legend of the club. He made his debut as a 17-year old substitute at Highbury in 1967 and notched his first goal in an FA Cup tie with Charlton a few months later.

Talking of record breakers I have to mention the old as well as the young and City’s new signing Herman Hreidarsson certainly fits into the latter category. His debut in the Middlesbrough home game last month made him the fifth oldest Coventry City debutant. He’s not quite as old as Dennis Wise was when he made his bow exactly six years previously in 2006 but if he could half the impact that Wise had then City may be able to avoid the drop. The ten oldest debutants are as follows:-

1	Dennis Wise	21 January 2006	Derby Co. (h)	39 years 37 days
2	Gordon Strachan	15 April 1995	Sheffield Wed (h)	38 years 64 days
3	Jim Sanders	23 August 1958	Darlington (h)	38 years 28 days
4	Steve Walsh	24 August 2002	Crystal Palace (h)	37 years 263 days
5	Hermann Hreidarsson	21 January 2012	Middlesbrough (h)	37 years 197 days
6	Vicente Engonga	15 February 2003	Rotherham (a)	37 years 179 days
7	Andy Goram	29 September 2001	Gillingham (a)	37 years 169 days
8	Arjen De Zeeuw	15 September 2007	Bristol City (h)	37 years 153 days
9	Danny Shone	5 January 1929	Brighton (h)	36 years 253 days
10	Danny Shea	25 August 1923	Barnsley (h)	35 years 292 days